Freeing or Fleeing

Chapter Thirteen - The Expected Reaction

Chapter Thirteen

Was it a surprise that my hands trembled as I unlocked the front door, peeking in slightly in an attempt to listen in on the happenings of the house? Luckily, I heard nothing from the same floor.

I turned around and placed my index finger on my lips and whispered, "Come on, let's try getting you into the room quickly."

She gave me an uneasy look as we tiptoed into the house, gently closed the door and made our way up the stairs. The door to Mum's room was closed but I could hear her voice coming through the room.

"...thinks this is the end of it, then she has another thing coming. I am not going to back down." I heard her speak.

There was no other voice I could hear so my assumption was that she was on the phone. We continued to tip toe across to the spare bedroom.

"Quick, get in. I'll come back in a bit," I whispered, quickly opening the door, throwing the bags I had on my hands in and shoving her inside.

My heart was racing and I slowly shut the door behind me, making my way into the bathroom to compose myself. I rested against the door of the bathroom and truly started to contemplate my actions. What was I thinking? Should I have spoken to Eijaz about this first? I didn't want to imagine his reaction let alone Mums'. What was I going to do? How do I explain this?

I inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times and once I felt calm enough, I made my way over to the mirror, only to realise I hadn't pulled my niqab off yet. I pulled it over my face, resting it over my head and stared at myself in the mirror. I turned on the tap and splashed water on my face and when I turned it off again, that's when I heard her.

"Hafeezah, is that you?" Mum called out from outside the bathroom.

My heart rate increased again. "Yes, Mum, it's me. I'm coming!" I called back.

I squeezed my eyes, took a few more deep breaths and exited the bathroom.

"Where have you been all this time?" She began, even before I could shut the bathroom door behind me.

"I ––" I was interrupted.

"Do you think you can just do whatever you like?" She narrowed her eyes at me, taking a step towards me.

"Your son is aware that I went to help Khadra out," I spurted out before she could take another step.

"Oh, well, you should also tell me next time," she settled on.

I wanted to point out that my husband is the only person that really needs to know but I didn't have that courage.

"Okay, where is he?" I asked.

"In his room," she answered, venom in her voice. When I didn't respond and headed up the stairs towards my room, she added, "after the hard work he's been doing, trying to fix the oven and a few other things, you should have been home to give him a massage."

I bit my tongue in fear that I'd end up saying something back to her that would be inappropriate. It probably wasn't a good idea to point out that she was the only reason he was doing the handy work in the house on his day off. When I entered my room, Eijaz was laying on the bed, on his phone. He glanced my way and smiled.

"How did it go?" He sat up as I undid my niqab and hijab.

"If you get a call or a marriage CV from a number you don't recognise, it's the proposal for Khadra," I replied, smiling back cheekily. "Can you speak to Khalu for me please? Thanks, you're the best."